Is the Water Safe to Drink?

I am going to the Punta Cana area tomorrow and I was wondering if the tap water is safe to drink?

Unless you plan to spend six months or more in the country, I would suggest that you drink bottled water. With a longer stay, your body has time to adjust. But with a short stay, you don't want to come home sick.

We stayed at the Bavaro Palace Resort in Punta Cana. The first thing our tour guide told us is not to drink the water. There is bottled water all over for you.

--Unless you plan to spend six months or more in the country, I would suggest that you drink bottled water. With a longer stay, your body has time to adjust.--

What? If the water has not been rendered safe to drink, as is the case with the public water supply, it doesn't matter even if you have lived your whole life there. This is not a matter of your body just adjusting. It is about water that has not been rendered safe to drink and may contain all types of disease-causing microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses and protozoan cysts.

Some hotels purify their water via filtration and chemical disinfection. If they have not said so, don't assume they have. Smart Dominicans that do not buy bottled water (most buy it in 5-gallon jugs for about RD$0.18 / US$1.12) will boil it first.

Don't fret though. Even campers pulling water out of clear mountain streams generally purify their water before drinking it for the same reasons.

Jim Hinsch JimHinsch@CSI.COM

OK, you're probably right. However, I am speaking from personal experience, having lived in and near Barahona for a year five years ago. I drank local water and never did get ill. Maybe I was just lucky.

Sarah, you were EXTREMELY lucky. Jim Hinsch is absolutely correct. I can give you a list as long as your leg of the impurities you will find in the "drinking water/tap water" and it is not pretty. Just to mention a few: Contaminants that cause hepatitis, Amebic dysentery, E.coli, multiple parasites, Shigella. I think you get the idea. Buy purified water or purify your own. I have lived here 8+ years and have NEVER drank the tap water. I don't even brush my teeth in it!

Michelle By now I think you got the point. All hotels have bottled water readily available. Remember "Also use the Bottled Water to brush your teeth and rinse your toothbrush"

Have a great trip

Gary and Gail

DR1 SPANISH message board ?

Dear DR! Is there a Spanish equivalent of your excellent message board? Thanks, Canadian Bob.

Is the tap water used for anything?

Nick, as a general rule tapwater is only used to do laundry, shower/bath with. I have had our tap water tested several times & it is dangerously polluted with E-Coli. We do not use it at all in cooking or washing vegetables.Be warned! Canadian Bob.

Tap water is used by many but not all, for cooking (coffee, soup, rice, etc. - boiling renders it safe to drink), washing dishes (the plates are safe once they dry), laundry, bathing, brushing teeth, and house cleaning. It is used for just about everything except for drinking and making ice. Smart people periodically add a small amount of bleach to their cisterns (the holding tank used by houses to store public water and feed the pressure tanks) and gravity tanks (the large globes you see on top of houses and buildings to provide water pressure). Some people run their tap water through filters or purifiers.

Jim Hinsch JimHinsch@CSI.COM

Jim is right

Jim is right: DO NOT DRINK THE WATER! Actually mine (Arroyo Hondo) is now smelling like used diapers, but one of my collegues has his water (Bella Vista) checked every three months and it appears to be drinkable. Anyway, the Botellones are only 16 pesos for 5 gallons. I use the botellones water to wash vegetables, cook pasta and make coffee. Some people use tap water with chloor drops. Others wash the vegetables in Botellones water WITH chloor drops. Just be careful. There are bacterias that can?t be killed by chloor or boiling. Maybe ECH can help you out.